Twilights Turmoil
by Axiri-The Aeons Mirror
Summary: The start of a great adventure is merely the end of a different journey. Join Sora, Kairi, Riku and a host of other characters in my version of Kingdom Hearts 3. Not Birth By Sleep, these are the events that occur after Kingdom Hearts 2
1. Chapter 1

_**Twilights Turmoil**_

The sun was setting in a brilliant display of reds, orange, and a fading yellow that cast an alluring blanket over the tropical islands. Waves were softly lapping at the sand, while the winds whispered serenely through palm trees. Underneath the shade of a papou tree, Sora was wondering what kind of changes were about to take place in his recently normal life.

It had only been five days since he, Riku, and Kairi had been reunited after the defeat of Xemnas inside Kingdom Hearts. For a time they had thought that it was all over and that they could go back to being regular people, going to school, hanging out with friends, and being together with their families again. Sora chuckled when he thought back to when he and Riku had gone through the door to the light, falling into the waters in front of Destiny Islands. Had everyone (albeit Kairi) been shocked to see them again!

Of course Kairi wasn't too surprised to see them just come crashing down from the sky, but that's not to say that she wasn't plenty of other things. Mainly happy and relieved that they had made it back safely. Her eyes met with Soras for what felt like a long time, then a couple of familiar faces came running from behind her. Sora only had a moment to react when Donald and Goofy piled on top of him, Riku wasn't left alone either as King Mickey jumped up and gave him an aerial hug.

Sora was busy trying to get Donald and Goofy off of him while Riku was spinning the King around in his arms, clearly overjoyed to see his good friend. As Sora finally managed to sit up he gave Kairi his trademark goofy grin, "W-we're back," he said sheepishly.

Sora suddenly remembered that he still had Kairi's good luck charm, he pulled it out of his pocket and held it out to her. Her eyes flickered with recognition at the sight of it. Something else was present in those eyes as well, for a brief instant Kairi was a blonde haired girl in a white dress and Sora was a boy with shorter hair that was still just as spiky. Once the flash of their nobodies reunion was over Kairi leaned forwards.

Kairi gave Sora a welcoming smile as she held out her hand to him, "You're home,"

Sora took her hand and got to his feet, before anyone could say anything Kairi had pulled him into a tight hug, "I'm so glad that you're finally home again, try and stay a little longer this time okay?"

Sora wasn't sure what to say, so he did the only thing that came to mind, he hugged her back and said, "Kairi, I won't leave you again,"

As they embraced the others were watching with interest, Goofy was the first to speak again, "Gawrsh Sora, I never knew you were the romantic type!"

Sora could feel his face heat up; he pulled away from Kairi and turned to face Goofy "I'm not being romantic! I'm just happy to see her is all!"

There was a moment of silence then, everyone just started to laugh. They let out everything that they had been holding inside of them, they laughed until they were all on the ground in tears. Everything was alright, it was all over and now they were all back together again. The blue sky hung above them as they all reveled in their victory, light filled the shores and not a heart was held prisoner in the darkness.

After the reunion on the beach, Sora and Riku realized that they had some explaining to do when they got home. Sora had no clue what he would say when he saw his mother again, it had been well over two years since he had been back on the islands. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye before his home had been engulfed by the darkness. Riku on the other hand wasn't worried in the slightest, he had been living by himself when the islands had been consumed by darkness, his parents having work that entailed their living far away. They probably hadn't even noticed his absence.

The group headed towards the docks, they needed to get to the mainland first and they were still on the play island where everything had begun. On the way there Donald and Goofy started to whisper to one another about something that made Goofy laugh heartily. "What're you guys laughing at?" Sora was curious since Goofy had looked at him before chuckling.

"It's nothing Sora, Donald and I were just wondering when you were gonna tell Kairi about what happened with Saix is all" Goofy said with _his_ trademark Goofy grin.

Now Kairi was interested in the conversation too, hearing her name she slowed her pace and fell in line with the trio. "Tell me what Sora?" She had a glint in her eyes that told him he wasn't going to get out of this easily.

Sora definitely didn't want Kairi to know about how he had begged Saix to take him to Kairi, how he had gone so far as to knell before the former Organization XIII member. "It's nothing Kairi, just something that happened when we were looking for you" Sora tried to play it off casually.

Now Kairi was really interested, "If it's nothing then you won't mind telling me then will you Sora?" Sora could feel her azure eyes boring into him, she always got like this when there was something that she didn't know about. He wasn't really sure what to do, he didn't want to lie to her, but at the same time he really had no desire for her to know the truth. As it turns out someone else made everything real simple for Sora, Donald just blurted out the secret.

"When we were looking for you Sora begged a member of Organization XIII to bring him to you, he was so desperate that he even got down on his hands and knees!" Donald said it all in a rush, but after receiving a stern look from Goofy he withered a little. "Oh…… I wasn't supposed to mention that was I?"

Sora mentally groaned, Donald and his big mouth! For a moment the group fell silent and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of their foot falls. Sora broke the silence, "I would have done it for any of you guys, it's no big deal!" Underneath his carefree grin he was freaking out, please don't let Kairi figure it out, please don't let Kairi figure out my feelings for her!

Kairi turned towards him as though she had heard his thoughts, but all she did was smile at him. "I know Sora, you're the kind of guy who'd do anything for his friends so don't worry about it!" Sensing his relief she stuck her tongue out at him and gave him a playful shove. "Race you to the boats guys!"

Riku gave Sora a look that screamed 'just try and beat me' and with that they both took off, racing across the beach, leaving three anthrophomorphic animals more than a little bit behind. Sora didn't care that he had to explain why he had been gone for so long to his mom and he most certainly didn't care that he might be called out to fight again, he was home with the people he loved and that was all that mattered.

Meanwhile, two figures were gazing out at endless ocean highlighted silver by a full moon, a scene that Sora and Riku had been looking at not that long ago. One was a tall man cloaked in an Organization XIII robe and the other was a blue-haired girl that looked to be about seventeen. The man regarded her without moving, "Who are you?"

The girl sat down and said just four words, "My name is Aqua"


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER:

I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR ANY OTHER CHARACTER THAT WAS BORROWED IN THIS STORY, THE ONLY THING THAT BELONGS TO ME IS THE STORY ITSELF AND ANY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS I MAY CHOOSE TO INTRODUCE

(Please don't sue me, I am but a poor boy with nothing to take!)

Sora and company had reached the mainland in record time, due to a bet between Sora and Riku that one could get there faster than the other. While the two teens were near exhaustion, those they had ferried (Donald and King Mickey) were just a little dizzy. A couple of minutes later Goofy rowed in the other boat with Kairi laughing about something he had said before. "So Sora really sang in a musical? Underwater?" there were tears coming out of her eyes as she spluttered the question.

"Ahyuck! Yup, Sora wasn't half bad at it neither." Goofy seemed to enjoy telling Kairi about the trios previous adventures on their search for their friends. "I have to say though, being a turtle was pretty fun!"

This only elicited more laughter from Kairi, who appeared as though she was having some difficulty breathing. After helping her out Goofy turned to Sora, "Gawrsh Sora, Kairi wanted to hear about where we had been so I kinda told her about Atlantica!" He seemed a little bashful as Soras face took on a sunburn red from Kairis antics. Sora and Riku were still just a little out of breath, so he let her laugh until he could catch his breath.

"Just for the record Kairi, I have an awesome singing voice! Apparently……" Sora was never one to boast, but luckily he had two friends to back up his claim this time. "Yeah! Sora has the voice of an angel! An angel with a terrible sense of direction, but an angel nonetheless!" Donald thought he was helping, but Goofy knew better.

"Ahyuck, Sora had all of the mermaids in Atlantic wanting his autograph when the show was over!" Goofy put his arm around Sora, "He had his hands pretty full until we had to leave."

Now Kairi was done laughing, "And what exactly does he mean by that Sora?" She put her hands on her hips in a most Kairi-like-way. Sora knew he was in trouble by just looking at her eyes. Now there was someone you didn't want to get angry! "Uh, ummm……." Sora got out of this one the only way he knew how, "I'm sure my mom is waiting for me, so see ya later guys!" With that he dashed off in the direction of his house.

Kairi reached out a hand, "Sora wait-!" He had gotten a lot faster then she had remembered, he was out of sight before she could even say anything. She let her hand drop to her side as a worried look made itself at home on her normally relaxed features. "I didn't get a chance to tell him about…….." For a moment she looked close to tears.

Riku was the first to speak up, "Tell him what Kairi?" She turned to him with desperation in her eyes, "We can't let Sora get to his house, we- we just can't…….." Now everyone was looking at her with confusion and underneath it, fear.

Kairi started to head after Sora, "I don't have time to explain, guys we have to catch up to Sora and stop him before its too late!" Riku decided to put his trust in her until he could hear her explanation. "Okay Kairi, I'll stall him until the rest of you catch up." With that he opened up a Corridor of Darkness and vanished inside of it. Goofy only had one thing to say, "Ya know Donald, I really wish we could do that."

Sora thought he had heard Kairi say something when he had left, but he figured that it wasn't something that couldn't wait until later. Anything to avoid an interrogation Kairi style. He could see his home in the distance, he didn't even notice that he hadn't run into anyone else since he had separated from the others. Another thing that went unnoticed by him were the pools of shadow that had formed behind him. Oblivious he continued on his way towards his house. He was only a couple of houses away when a Corridor of Darkness appeared in front of him. In a flash of light his Keyblade was in his hand, the Kingdom Key shone in the afternoon sun. It vanished as soon as Sora saw Riku emerge from the portal, "Riku, what's up?"

Riku wasn't really sure what to say, "Uh, Kairi said to wait for the others because……" He racked his brains for anything that Sora would believe, which in hindsight was a lot. He had to say something fast! "Because they all want to be there when you explain things to your mom!" Sora didn't even have to think about it, "Okay, makes sense to me," Phew, Riku had winged that one and it had worked.

His sense of accomplishment didn't last long because the pools of shadow began spawning Heartless by the dozen. Luckily, they were all Shadows so when one leapt at an unsuspecting Sora, Riku was able to take it out in a single stroke. The Way to Dawn parted the small Heartless like a hot knife through butter. In an instant Sora had his weapon out as well. They went back to back, "What are Heartless doing here!? I thought that the worlds were closed off!" Sora turned his head towards Riku, "How many do you think you can take?" Riku just smiled, "Who do you think it is that you're talking to?" Without another word Riku leapt at the scores of Heartless before him, Sora grinned and followed suit.

Goofy, Donald, Mickey, and Kairi hurried after Sora and Riku. Mickey, being the fastest, saw the fight before the others. His Keyblade materialized into the small Kings preferred reverse grip and he charged into the fray. Goofy and Donald were about to follow Mickey when they heard Soras voice, "Donald! Goofy! Stay with Kairi until we thin these guy out!" The two animals looked at each other, until Mickey yelled out, "It's okay fellas! Listen to Sora, I'll be alright!"

Goofy pulled out his shield, Donald his staff, and Kairi her newly acquired Keyblade. The trio stayed together, taking out modest numbers of Shadows while Sora, Riku, and the King cut a swath through the Heartless swarm. Riku used deft swordplay to take out multiple Shadows with ease, the occasional flash of dark power only augmented his skills. The King was like the mirror image of Riku in the respect that his skill with his blade was accented with bursts of light, defeating chains of Heartless without hesitation. Sora on the other hand was utilizing all of his skills from the previous journey to crush any and all Shadows that lay within his line of sight. Within minutes the throng of Heartless had been reduced to a small handful by the group's skill. Just when it seemed victory was theirs time seemed to slow, Sora could only watch as his friends seemed frozen in place.

"I applaud your efforts, but alas they have all been for naught my dear Keyblade Master," the voice radiated from everywhere at once. Sora had heard it more times than he could count, the last being inside Kingdom Hearts……. "Xemnas!"

He turned around, "Show yourself!" Laughter exploded from all around, making Sora hold his head in his hands. "You're only half right dear Sora!" A man appeared in front of Sora, he looked like Xehanorts Heartless……. But there was something different about him. His clothing for one thing, he was wearing a gold arm guard with its straps going across a dark skintight shirt. He had on tan samurai pants that grew larger as they went down, sandals adorned his feet. The Heartless symbol that had been on his chest was gone, the only things Sora saw that were familiar were his golden eyes and his silver hair.

"Who are you?" Sora asked out of curiosity, this seemed like an entirely different person. "I am Xehanort, The True Seeker of Darkness!" Xehanort smirked at Sora, "Surely you know how I came to be? After all, I have only you to thank……." Sora was at a loss for words, "I was the one…… who brought you back?"

While Sora was meeting his true enemy that had hidden behind his various masks in the past, Aqua was spinning a tale for the mysterious stranger. A story about three friends who had been torn apart by fate, a story about betrayal and of an unfinished errand. It was her story, but it did not belong to just her alone, her friends were just a large a part of it as she was. Her story faltered for a moment, "Ventus……. Terra……" the names escaped her lips as a single tear rolled down her face. The moons shining reflection on the waters surface gave the robed man a clear view of Aqua's face, he shared her sorrow for he too had lost those that were closest to him…….


End file.
